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But I want to be a…

A fundamental tension in k-12 education is that kids grow up wanting to be:

biologists

engineers

astronauts

construction workers

entrepreneurs

teachers

historians

video game developers

archaeologists

but they’re only taught by teachers. These teachers are superheroes. They’re under-appreciated, they’re doing their best and they’re teaching them valuable information. But most teachers haven’t worked in a biology lab, or engineered a new product, or launched a business, or built a building.

If a student never meets someone who has a career path, how can we expect them to follow their passion? If the only adults students are routinely exposed are either 1. their parents and 2. teachers, we’re not giving them a holistic perspective of what life could be.

We need to open up the walls of school. We need more informal methods of teaching. We need more exposure to social capital.